GUDEG (Javanese Cooking)

Gudeg is Javanese cooking, it is a young jack fruit together with meat, eggs and spices braised in coconut milk. Cooked in a clay pot over a hot fire for a few hours until the braising liquid is almost absorbed.  The finished dish looks brownish and creamy with a soft texture, a favourite dish in Yogyakarta Central Java.

There are varieties of gudeg dishes, today I cooked ‘gudeg Kobis’ (cabbage gudeg), using cabbage leaves instead of the jack fruits.  It braised with a whole chicken, chicken legs, and also boiled eggs.

An excellent large and heavy based pot is essential to have for successful cooking.

Gudeg Kobis - Cabbage Gudeg
These are what you need.
1 large whole cabbage, peel a few large leaves and quarter the rest.
1 whole chicken, discard the fat, wash and dry
8 chicken legs
12 boiled eggs, peeled
1 tin coconut milk
Spices: 2 teaspoons coriander seeds-crushed, 8 cloves garlic, 3 large brown onion, peeled and chopped, 6 candlenuts, 3 tablespoons tamarind juice (available in Asian grocery stores), 2 teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon brown sugar. (place all spices ingredients in a blender, the process to make a rough paste)
Extra Ingredients: extra tamarind juice, galangal, daun salam and sliced red onion, desiccated coconut, vegetable oil, and a cup strong black tea.

I cooked it outdoor in a BBQ oven, for one hour and finishing the cooking in the kitchen.  It's not the traditional cooking in Java, but it worked well.

The Preparation

Rub the chicken with spices and tamarind juice.  Lay some of the green cabbage on the bottom of the pot, put the chicken in and place the eggs and chicken leg in between layers of the cabbage, add in the rest of spices, tamarind juice, chopped red onion, galangal, salam leaves, salt and brown sugar.  Add in the coconut milk.  Cover the top part with extra cabbages, more spices and add in a cup of black tea and sweet soy. Sprinkle with desiccated coconut and drizzle with 3 tablespoons oil.  

The Gudeg- after two hours of braising

(Cooking the gudeg using an oven in the kitchen, instead of using BBQ oven outside).
Preparation as above, cover the pot, place it in the oven to braise for two hours.  Leave it cold in the oven until it is warm enough to touch, take it out and let it cool in the cooking pot.

Finishing off cooking the Gudeg

Transfer the gudeg in a serving pot, and cook the braising liquid to reduce until thickened to a creamy sauce.  (you may adjust it by adding coconut cream and salt/sugar)

Gudeg is a serving pot

Thickening the braising liquid

The creamy sauce for Gudeg

To Serve
Transfer the chicken to a serving dish together with the eggs and drizzle a little with braising sauce.  Place the cabbages and the broth into a serving bowl.

 Place the pot in a hot oven for a few minutes to get a dark brownish colour. (Optional)

Gudeg, chicken and egg with its braising sauce

A hot dish to accompany the gudeg traditionally is a braised krechek in spicy chilli sauce and steamed white rice.


It is a long process, and I am surprised myself that it turned out beautifully, delicious, and it brought me back to the time when I had the dish in Java.  I am so pleased as it is my very own recipe.
The gudeg freezes well, it is worth the trouble, next time I must cook the gudeg of the young jack fruit-the traditional gudeg.

As I could not find the 'krecek' to cook the sambal goreng to accompany the gudeg, I served mine with hot chilli sambal, and it's as good.

Until next post, another Javanese cooking.

Thanks for visiting

Susy